The Supreme Court on Monday extended by a fortnight the interim stay on a High Court order quashing an ordinance allowing 10 per cent reservation in education and government employment to the poor upper caste communities in Gujarat.
A Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D. Y. Chandrachud was asked by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi to allow the stay order to continue till the next hearing. The court clarified that there would be no admission till further orders.
The State appealed in the Supreme Court against the Gujarat HC’s order on August 4, quashing the ordinance meant to quell the Patidar agitation for quota in the State. It called the ordinance “unconstitutional”.
The State contended that the judgment by a Division Bench, led by Chief Justice R. Subhash Reddy, did not consider the fact that the 10 per cent quota was based on “reasonable classification” and not reservation as such.
